


You Make Me Feel Intoxicated

by imbouncingoffthewalls



Category: The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, I don't know what this counts as, I'm bad with tags, M/M, Minor Character Death, Norman Osborn is a shitty dad okay okay, Parksborn, Probably no smut but idk, Superfamily, Tony Stark tries sorta but he's not much better, it's gonna be long tbh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-11
Updated: 2014-02-19
Packaged: 2018-01-11 22:08:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 5,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1178514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imbouncingoffthewalls/pseuds/imbouncingoffthewalls
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It wasn’t that Peter Stark-Parker needed Harry Osborn. It’s just that he really prefers having him around. </p>
<p>After seven long years of being apart, childhood best friends Peter Stark-Parker and Harry Osborn are finally reunited--- only now, there's a twist. Peter's sorta a hero that Harry's father's company is keeping under close watch, and Harry's sorta a villain that Spider-Man is keeping under close watch. When they're not attempting to destroy each other in costumes, they're sorta in love, which is definitely a struggle. What could possibly go wrong?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. in a room full of frozen faces, and a moment of fractured time

It wasn’t that Peter Stark-Parker _needed_ Harry Osborn. It’s just that he really prefers having him around.

 

Yeah, yeah. That sounded about right. It was what Peter had decided to tell himself when Harry announced his father was shipping him off to England for boarding school. No biggie, right? FaceTime and Skype existed for a reason. They’d still talk all the time, right? They promised each other they’d keep in constant contact, and Peter really believed it would work. They’d always made time for each other, growing up. They’d still make it work.

 

  
Only, they didn’t, was the thing. Peter was bit right after Harry left, and that just made things _hectic_. Harry was wrapped up in a completely different lifestyle. They tried to make time for each other, but they couldn’t.

 

Whatever. It’s not like Peter _needed_ him or anything. It was just that he really prefered having him around. He just really liked hearing his voice. That wasn’t weird, was it? Whatever. Not like he cared.

 

Only, he cared a lot, he realized, when his phone buzzed one day with a text from a number he hadn’t heard of in at least seven years.

 

[From: Hip Hop Harray] It appears as if I may be coming back into your neck of the woods soon. -H

[From: Hip Hop Harray] And, by soon, I actually mean right about now. -H 

[From: Hip Hop Harray] Come to the address being sent to your GPS, Peter. I’m back. -H

 

Maybe Peter had been across town. It didn’t stop him from getting to the address sent to his GPS in what was probably record time. Because, really, it wasn’t that he needed Harry Osborn. He just really missed him, was the thing. He prefered having him around.

 

Peter checked his appearance in the camera of his phone for a solid minute before he finally requested to be buzzed up to Harry’s apartment. Naturally, it was the penthouse of a rather nice building. That was Harry for you. His father, Norman Osborn, had more money than he knew what to do with, which meant that Harry had more money than any twenty-one year old ever should. Harry had never been excessive about his constant flow of wealth growing up, and it was one of Peter’s favorite things about him. Peter, being one himself, was constantly surrounded by rich kids. Harry was just a different type.

 

Peter was lost in his own mind, thinking about that damn Osborn boy when he felt a familiar hand firmly clasp onto his shoulder.

 

_“Peter Parker.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fic Title from: Intoxicated by The Cab  
> Chapter title from: Intoxicated by The Cab


	2. your eyes like a shot of whiskey

Peter had to blink a few times, just to realize that, Jesus Christ, that’s Harry. The once slightly awkward looking teen was not a not awkward at all young man. That was, well. He was attractive, and that was weird. There was an air of confidence around Harry that was just very different, and the gaze he had fixed Peter with was downright predatory.   
  
“ _Well?_ Cat got your tongue?” he drawled, a slight accent lacing his words. It wasn’t an English accent, really, but it wasn’t his usual New Yorker sound either. It was attractive, whatever it was.

 

Peter blinked again before he regained control of his mind and mouth.   
“Oh, no. No, not at all.” he tripped over his words like a starstruck boyband fan, and what the hell was that about?   
  
Harry was smirking a little too much for Peter’s liking, a low chuckle rolling out of his being as he pulled Peter into the apartment. Okay, maybe Peter liked the way Harry was just pulling him around a little too much, but whatever. Not like anyone had to know.

 

“---you look different,” Peter finally managed to utter as they walked through the rather impressive penthouse.

This brought out another chuckle from Harry. “Do I? So do you, Peter, I must say. You’ve grown quite a lot since we last saw each other.”

Oh, yeah. Peter was taller now, and he was much more muscular. Being a hero did that to a person. His hair was styled a little more, and the glasses were long gone. The realization that yeah, he did look a bit different made Peter glance down at his feet in self consciousness. God, what if Harry thought he looked weird?

 

“Would you relax?” Harry sat Peter down on a couch that was oddly comfortable despite how uncomfortable it looked, finally looking and sounding a little bit like the Harry Osborn Peter remembered.

“Sorry, sorry,” Peter let out a little huff of laughter that still sounded too nervous to his ears. “Just been a while, you know? Not to mention you look way different now. I don’t know. Lemme process a little, Osborn,”   
  
“Oh, by all means. Take all the time you need, Parker,”

 

Maybe it was the way they could just go back and forth like that that made Peter realize just how much he had truly missed the other. Whatever.

 

“Why’re you suddenly back? Not that I’m not, like, really happy about iit,” Peter asked, resting his chin on his hand.

 

Harry crossed his legs, folding his hands together. “Father called me back into the area. He’s not well, as I’m sure you know. He believes it best that I learn how to manage Oscorp before his passing.”  

 

It would be weird to hear anyone else talk about their own father passing in such a business-like manner, if it wasn’t Harry. Peter had always known that something just wasn’t right about their relationship, but he never pressed the issue and Harry never said much.

 

Peter nodded slowly, simply taking everything in. Harry was back, and it sounded like he was back to stay for a while. He was pulled from his thoughts once more when Harry continued on,  
“Enough about me, I believe. Tell me about yourself, Peter. What have you been up to since our separation?”   
  
Peter froze for the briefest of moments. Crap. He had to edit the truth a little; there was no way he could just tell Harry that he was suddenly a super hero.

  
“Oh, you know. Graduated high school and college, got a job as the head of my own lab with Dad. It’s been alright.”

 

Harry seemed to know that something wasn’t being said, and that was nothing if not unsettling. He didn’t press it, thankfully, choosing instead to stand.   
  
“Come,” he uttered simply, reaching out a hand to help Peter stand. Odd behavior for Harry, but whatever. Peter accepted the hand, standing quickly.

 

“Where’re we going?” he asked, running one hand quickly through his hair.

  
“Oscorp headquarters. I would very much like to show you a few things, _Science Kid_.” Harry teased playfully, bringing back the old nickname from their youth.  

  
Peter smiled slightly at the name, glancing down. “Been a while since I’ve heard anyone call me that.”

  
“Mm, been  a while since we’ve seen each other,” Harry reminded him, as if that was necessary. Next thing Peter knew, he was being ushered out of the apartment with one of Harry’s hands firmly placed at the small of his back, guiding him out to the parking garage. Seemed like he’d be taking a bit of a field trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from: Intoxicated by the Cab


	3. color your world red

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this one's based on THE SCENE in the TASM2 trailer  
> Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand, that's probably as close to being canon as it will ever get kbye  
> AKA-The only chapter where the author tried to pretend like movie canon is an actual thing

Harry was probably watching Peter a little too intensely out the corner of his eye on the car ride over, seeing as he really should have been focused on the road.. Not like it was, well,  _really_ on purpose. He was just really interested in the way Peter looked, all grown up as he suddenly was. Peter was rambling on about something---Harry had asked him about some scientific topic that was sure to make Peter ramble on just long enough for him to think. Peter had certainly done quite a bit of changing from the boy Harry remembered from his childhood. Seeing him again only made the young heir realize how much he wished he had, at the very least, kept better tabs on the man. 

All too soon for Harry's liking, they arrived right outside of Oscorp headquarters. The man quickly adorned a pair of sunglasses before sliding out of the car to open Peter's door for him. It was, well, a little weird, but Peter wasn't about to complain. Weird didn't really mean bad or anything. Peter stood, laughing just a little at the glasses on Harry's face.

"Problem, Parker?" Harry asked, one eyebrow arched.

"Well, that depends on how you define 'problem'. What's with the glasses?" Peter asked, a light chuckle tangling itself up in his words.   
  
Harry rolled his eyes---not that Peter could see behind the chick glassess--- and placed that damned hand on the small of his back like that was just its new home, guiding him through the doors of the building. Peter was familiar with the building; he didn't need a guide. It was whatever. Harry didn't know about how familiar he had grown with Oscorp's labs in the recent years, probably. Sure, that still didn't mean that Peter needed to be guided through doors...

Whatever, okay? Peter'd come up with a plausible excuse later.

Harry pulled the freakin' glasses off of his face with his free hand, winking at a blushing blonde secretary with ridiculously fake breasts as he did. Maybe the sight made Peter roll his eyes and groan, which was  _definitely_ meant to be an action executed in the privacy of his own mind. It was enough to make Harry turn his head form Boobilicious Bimbo, casting a teasing glance in Peter's direction. 

" _Problem, Parker?"_ he repeated, hand squeezing just slightly. 

Seriously, fuck this guy. 

"I don't have a problem, Harry." Peter shrugged, hoping that he wasn't blushing because, damn, he was just sure he was.

Harry only chuckled in response, leaving the rest of the walk to his new office in silence.

 

"You're gonna wanna see this," Harry grinned a little, pulling up a string of images on his electronic table. Peter raised an eyebrow before turning his head down to look at the table, jaw dropping just slightly when he saw what was displayed. 

Well, shit.

It was pretty much anyone important in his life; his dads, Gwen... and a lot of himself. 

"Oscorp had you under surveillance."  

Peter swiped through the various images with the slightest of frowns on his face, eventually glancing back up at Harry. 

"Why?" he asked. 

Harry chuckled a little again, sitting back in his chair. 

  
 _"Isn't that the question of the day?"_

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from: Rise Above 2 - Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark Original Cast


	4. different dna

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> rly short chapter!!! It's just sort of serving as a little window into bigger things to come SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON

It wasn't anything Spider-Man couldn't handle, obviously. It wasn't anything he hadn't gone up against a million times before. A few villains, all really pissed off. They weren't very strong, even when they combined their powers. Really, it should have been an open and shut case the second he landed on the scene. Well, it  _would've been,_ if it weren't for the mega douche that decided to be the weirdest freakin' pedestrian ever. Dude was just standing in the middle of a dangerous battle zone, and good God. How much dumber could a guy get? Wasn't it commonly known information that you were never supposed to stand in the middle of a battle zone in some stupid ass sunglasses, as if nothing could possibly harm you since you had on your fucking Prada----

That was Harry, wasn't it? Mother h--- was he serious?

Spidey swung down from a ledge the second he got a clear shot, groaning to himself. He grabbed the moron commonly known as Harry by the back of his stupid ass jacket and tugged him up into his arms, swinging away. He had to worry about getting him somewhere safe before he could finish the guys off, and wasn't that just the last thing he needed? 

"Hey, buddy. Wanna tell me why you think that was a good idea, standing in the middle of a danger zone like that?" Spidey asked, sass heavy in his voice. He had a right to be sassy, didn't he? This guy was being a moron!

Without a word, Harry smirked, holding onto Spidey right at the small of his back. The sound of the mechanical foes breaking down and the cheers of the people watching sounded somewhere distantly in his mind, but hey, he was a little distracted by the way Harry was touching him.

 

That couldn't be good. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from: ET by Katy Perry


	5. when you party every day it ain't nothin' but a party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNING  
> Slightly mature content. If that throws you off, I suggest skipping this chapter. You'll be fine if you do.

It was just, well, a little stupid. Tony had always liked Harry, yeah, but did his return  _really_ call for a huge Stark Tower rave? Peter didn't  _really_ think so. If anything, he was just  _really_ trying to figure out why the hell Harry had touched Spider-Man like that. Did he know...?  _  
_

Of course not, what was he thinking?

Not that it mattered; not that he  _could_ think. He had, of course, been forced to go to the party. It was, after all, both in his house and for his best friend. It would be sorta douche-tastic of him to not go, he figured. 

Peter had never been one for the party scene. It was a lot of alcohol and drugs and really ratchet dancing, the few times he had attended parties, and that just. Well. Really wasn't his scene. Harry, however, was a different story entirely. He'd managed to get himself on the cover of more than one magazine on more than one occasion, always with more than one practically naked chick on each arm.  

                                                                                                              And, no, that was not why Peter was dreading the party in his honor so much.

 

"Parker," a slightly drunken voice slurred right in Peter's ear, arms wrapping around his waist like it was just right where they belonged. Fucking Harry Osborn. Peter decided he needed to get that kid a bell to wear around his neck. 

"What?" Peter bit off, body stiff. Parties were  _really_ not his thing. Drunk people weren't his thing. 

"Would you  _relax?"_ Harry was taking steps back, pulling Peter with him right back into the crowd of drunk, dancing people. It was dark, the entire room smelled of booze, and there were those really tacky neon flashing lights everywhere.  _Glow in the dark themed,_ Tony had said. Okay, right. It just looked like the Alice in Wonderland ride at Disneyland. Whatever. 

Before Peter even had time to give him a resounding  _hell no,_ Harry was dancing all over him. Was he grinding right on his ass? 

Of course he was. 

"What are you doing, Osborn?" Peter mumbled, trying to sound like he wasn't enjoying this. He had a sorta girlfriend; this was bad. Sure, he wasn't like,  _official_ with Gwen or anything, but they were around each other and kissed enough to count as a couple, didn't they? 

"Problem?" And, whoa, Harry was moving Peter's hips for him, making him grind right back. "I don't see one, if there is," 

Okay, what? What was---all of this? Definitely not what Peter had ever expected from Harold-fucking-Osborn. 

"Wha-what are you doing?" Peter mumbled again, not realizing when Harry's hands stilled. Peter was grinding all on his own. Oops. Harry just chuckled, eyes looking downright predatory, turning Peter around so there was actual crotch contact. Harry just tipped the mostly full bottle of something to Peter's mouth, and fucking hell, Peter drank. He wasn't  _usually_ a partier, and he usually couldn't stand being drunk or drunk people--

 

Which totally explained how they were both very drunk not an hour later, dancing all over each other. It was a mix of playful and lustful, Harry's hands roaming Peter's body and Peter's arms wrapped around his neck. People were sort of watching them, because that was nothing if not a scandalous story. Party boy Oscorp heir and Stark genius boy nearly giving each other standing lap dances? Yeah, someone call TMZ. 

After a few hours of nearly having clothed sex on the dancefloor, Harry finally managed to tug Peter out of the main party floors and up to the private levels. Peter's private floor, to be exact. 

Maybe Harry shoved Peter into a few surfaces, kissing him like he was trying to own him. 

Maybe Peter loved it.

More and more alcohol kept appearing. Inhibitions were lost.   
  
Most importantly, clothing was lost. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from: Love Money Party by Miley Cyrus


	6. if i fail i'll fall apart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNING--physical abuse comes in towards the very end of the chapter. It isn't graphic at all, but if you'd rather not take the chance, there is a large space in between the first half of the chapter and the second.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The plot is actually starting to form starting... now! (So does the angst, actually, oops)

Harry woke up in the very early morning hours. If he remembered anything about Peter from their youth, he remembered how much Peter hated mornings.

_"It's not that I don't like waking up early,"  Peter at only twelve years of age had declared one morning, "I just hate the morning with a burning passion."_

The memory almost stopped Harry from sliding out of bed, from untangling his limbs from Peter's. Almost, but not quite. Peter barely moved when Harry pulled himself away, his slumber hardly even disturbed. Harry knew he was getting soft when he didn't immediately go off in search of his target. He turned,  studying morning-after Peter. He looked still; Peter was rarely still. He looked peaceful. Well. As peaceful as he could when his skin was decorated in small bruises that screamed  _mine_ and hickeys that growled  _only mine._ Such was the type of sight that Harry Osborn did not deserve to behold.

He quickly and silently redressed, taking great care to leave not a single trace of his having been in the room at all. It only took a bit of observation, roaming the floor for only a few minutes before he found himself just where hw anted to be. 

Spider-Man's lab. 

There was file upon file, prototype suit and web-shooter lining the walls. There was all the information he could ever need, all at his finger tips. He almost didn't make use of it; almost didn't burn the only dge he still cared about. But, then again, Norman---Father had told him to find out what he could about this Spider-Man character, and... he  _needed_ his approval, if just this once.

Harry's heart only grew heavier and heavier as he searched through the files. Peter had been bit by an  _Oscorp test spider_ of all things just two years after Harry had been shipped out to boarding school. It hadn't been his choice, of course, and yet he still felt a pang of guilt in his chest. He had left Peter when he had needed someone the most. Peter had never been the most social of guys; Harry had always been his closest friend. Everyone else, save for  _that Stacy girl,_ had been a mere name and face Peter knew. Harry was different, and he had always known it. How could he have left Peter during all of this? 

The filesonly turned out to contain more and more horrors as he read on. Peter had went through a very dark time. Depression, it said. Severe depression. Now, it was only... it was only mild. Only? Did the paper in front of him really have the audacity to call it _only?_ This could have all been prevented, had Harry just fought back against his father's hand, had he demanded to stay. This was his fault, wasn't it?

Tears were sitting in his eyes as comfortable, familiar companions by the time he got to the information he needed to report to his father. He pulled out his phone, taking as many pictures and notes as he could without risking having Peter wake up while he was still in the Tower. He'd made sure that Peter had been very drunk the previous night. It would be easy to fabricate a story, and let Peter believe that anything he remembered was the creation of his own imagination. Yes, that would have to do. 

Perhaps it was some strange nostalgic longing that made him go back to Peter's bedroom. He just had to see again, if just for a second, what Peter looked like; what he had done. He would have to tell Peter, of course, that he had watched him take some random man up to his room. He'd recount the story of how hot and heavy he had been with this imaginary man, and every word he said would feel like a stab to the gut because,  _no._ It hadn't been any random man--- nobody else had touched Peter the way Harry had. Peter had drunkenly admitted that he had not had sex before, and he refused to even  _think_ about how horrible it was, the way he took Peter's virginity and didn't even have the decency to  _not betray_ him afterwards. What had he done? Oh, what had he done?

 

It was---it was okay, wasn't it? It was just for his father. Peter would understand. Peter would. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  
" _Spider-Man? Spider-Man."_ Norman Osborn growled out, back turned to Harry as he reviewed the gathered information. 

"Enhanced genetics," Harry mumbled, glancing down at his own notes.  
  
" _Spider-Man,"_

"Super-human kinetics..."   
   
" _Spider-Man,"_ the very name seemed to upset Norman.

"Muscle augmentation...oh--and, look at that. Web bio-generation,"

"This looks like  _my work."_ Norman turned around, anger flashing in his eyes. Anger that certainly didn't have a proper target to speak of. That translated directly into  _Harry._

"I-It is your work, sir. Partly your work. The subject was infected with an Oscorp test spider---"

" _What?"_ Norman roared, fists angrily slamming down onto his desk. Harry tried his best not to flinch.

"H-He mixed quite a----"  
  
Before he could even say another word, he felt a familiar stinging pressure on his cheek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from: Oh No! by Marina and the Diamonds


	7. how'd we get so far from the sun?

The thing was, he woke up with a throbbing  _everything._ His legs hurt, his arms hurt, his neck hurt--- don't even get him started on how his ass ached. He felt a little cheap, if he was being honest with himself. He had clearly gotten very drunk at the party, if his hangover was anything to go by, and he'd lost his virginity in a one night stand. What was the old saying? Like father like son? 

See, none of this would  _really_ matter, if he had forgotten just who had caused the finger-shaped bruises that were, by then nearly faded out. He remembered familiar hands shoving him into walls and the scent of a familiar man laying himself atop Peter's body in a familiar bed. He could still hear a voice that had matured and developed, but still sounded mostly the same, murmuring absolute filth into his ears. He remembered falling asleep to a murmured  _I've always loved you, Peter Parker_ and---

Harry Osborn. He remembered Harry Osborn.

Funny thing was, Harry just wasn't around. There wasn't so much as a discarded sock anywherein his room to suggest that  _anyone_ had been there, really. Huh. What was that about? Sure, he knew Harry could be a bit of a douche canon, but he wouldn't just leave his best friend the morning after, would he? 

Only, yeah, actually. He  _did,_ the fucking  _douche canon._ Peter wasn't sure if he was hurt or pissed. Being pissed was, as many know, a lot easier to deal with, so he figured that would be what he'd aim for.

[To: Douche Duck] Where are you?????? -PP

 

See, the thing was, Peter couldn't know for a number of reasons. Harry was in the closet, for one. So far in the closet that he'd locked the door and turned the lights off. He had a 'Do Not Enter' sign hanging on the door and that was that. He was not gay, according to the media, and... Didn't Peter have some girl on his arm? Stacy, or whatever it was she called herself... Peter had been waiting to get her to go on a date with him since they were kids, and who was Harry to wreck that for more than a night? Even if it  _did_ kill him a little to see the way she looked at him.

Harry couldn't let his father down, either, and that may have been the most important part of it. Norman wanted answers about Spider-Man, and sneaking into Peter's labs to gain information was a must. Not that he  _needed_ to sleep with Peter to accomplish the task... It was really just, well, an added perk.

What was definitely  _not_ a perk was the rather angry text his phone got from Peter. Well. That was quite the use of punctuation. Harry sighed a little, glancing around. He was the only one in the office, as his father was off at some doctor's visit or other. Nobody would have to know if he called Peter to get his story right. Besides, wouldn't that be helping the cause?

Harry dialed Peter's number quickly, pressing his phone to his ear. This would be a fun situation to difuse. Peter, while not a hot tempered person, wasn't exactly easy to talk down once he was really upset about something. 

" _Where are you?"_ Peter's voice had a biting edge that may have made Harry flinch.

"I'm in my office, Parker. Are you finally awake, Tiger? Your lover still around?" Harry asked in as nonchalant a way as possible. 

"W---" Well, that was strange. Was Harry talking about himself in the third person? That wasn't cute. 

"What, do you not remember? You  _were_ rather hammered..." It was sort of painful, lying to Peter. 

"Remember  _what?"_ Peter asked carefully, refusing to give away any information. Had he dreamt it all?

"The  _party,_ Peter.  _Last night._ You drank quite a bit, let some man take you to your room..." It was really killing him to speak about it as if he hadn't been the man to completely  _claim_ Peter.

"I---I did?" That didn't sound right. Hadn't it been Harry? "Did you see---see who it was?"

"No, I didn't. Nobody else did, either. Your secret is safe." Safe from Gwen. Harry nearly chuckled at the thought of how angered she would be to learn that Peter had slept with his childhood best friend. Oh, how delightful it would be to watch.   
  
"I---thanks, Harry."   
  
Maybe Harry hated the confusion in Peter's tone; the guilt. He didn't like hearing his best friend sound so troubled, especially since he knew all the trouble stemmed from his own self. 

"Why don't you come over later, hm? We could watch old movies," Harry suddenly suggested, deciding that he had to do  _something._

 _  
_"Y-Yeah. Yeah. I'd like that." Peter hummed softly, sounding a little less disturbed.

"Fantastic. I'll collect you later on, yes?" Harry asked, glancing around the room once more. He was  _sure_ he had heard footsteps. 

"Sure thing--" Before Harry could catch the rest of what Peter had said, the angry voice of his father sounded in the halls.   
  
" _Harry!"_

 _  
_Harry bit his lip for a moment, cutting Peter off mid-sentence, "I hate to end so abruptly, Peter, but I have some things I have to take care of. I'll see you later on," With that, Harry hung up. Just as the conversation ended, Norman Osborn burst into the room.

"Harry!" 

Harry stood immediately, setting his phone down on the desk.   
  
"Yes, father? What can I do for you?"   
  
Norman sat down, Harry following suit.   
"I need you to... help your old man out, son." Norman never spoke to Harry in that manner unless he  _really_ needed something. Something that any sane person would reject.

"Anything, father." Harry quickly replied, leaning forward slightly in his chair.

"I need you to gather some more information about this Spider-Man. I need you to fight him. Figure out his weaknesses."

"B-but, sir, we have machines. We've used them on him before and they seem to accomplish the goal."  
  
Harry  _never_ talked back. This was just... he couldn't fight Spider-Man. He couldn't hurt Peter.

"They're too easy for him. You saw the way he handled them last time, when you went out to distract him. He needs a  _real_ target. Someone he can really get his teeth into. Now, son, I have a bit of a confession. You know that Green Goblin character that he fights so much?"

Harry nodded, afraid of how he knew the conversation would turn. It couldn't.   
  
"Well, sport, that's me. As you know, my health isn't at it's best. Doc's say I'm gonna be out the door pretty soon. I can't go fighting heroes." 

"----but, I can," Harry mumbled, finishing Norman's thought.   
  
" _Exactly."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from: No Way Down by The Shins


	8. it kills to know that you have been defeated

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow this is super late!!! I'm sorry I haven't update din a while, guys! I had to really prepare for writing this because this is where it starts to get angsty. Shorter chapter, be warned!

The thing was, Green Goblin  _hated_ Spider-Man, and Spider-Man  _hated_ the Green Goblin. 

They'd been enemies since the day Spider-Man went public with SHIELD, and wasn't  _that_ just really irksome? Peter, naturally, didn't know the bastard's secret identity, and on most levels, Goblin didn't know Spidey's. That would've been, you know, really great information to have about a few years ago. Now? Now, when Spider-Man found himself in the middle of an intense battle with Goblin? Now, it wouldn't matter, because before Spidey knew what was happening, the Green Goblin was in critical condition. He'd been crushed by some stone gargoyle that Spidey had accidentally sent tumbling down. Goblin had enough sense to know that he needed to get out of there while he still could, see if he couldn't get himself taken care of, and Spidey let him. Hey, he wasn't a  _killer,_ okay? He was a hero. He'd let the guy try and live. _  
_

Norman Osborn was  _not_ going to make it. He'd rushed home after being injured, and he refused to tell anyone what had exactly happened. After a little while of trying to pry details out of the man, Norman sent everyone in the room out---save for Harry. 

"Now, son. I---" he was cut off by a cough before continuing, "I have a bit of a confession for ya."   
  
Harry watched on with wide, scared eyes. This was his dad, afterall. He was practically dying right in front of his eyes, and really, Harry was just too young for that. 

"Y'know that Green Goblin fellow? The one that keeps chasing after Spider-Man? That's me. Spider-Man killed your ol' man, Harry." 

"Father," Harry began thinking as fast as he could. What the hell did he deal with first? The way his dad was a damn  _villain,_ or the way his dad was  _dying?_

 _"_ You can't be dying. You're not." Harry chose to go with the dying thing first, because that really seemed important. 

"Now, Harry. I don't want you gettin' yourself too upset, alright? Promise your dad you'll do something for him. Promise you'll get revenge against that _Spider-Man_ ,"

Harry nodded immediately, because who was he to deny his father's dying wish? What did it matter that his best friend was Spider-Man, that he had just promised to take down his best friend all for the sake of avenging his father's death? It was much too complicated to deal with.

"I promise," he murmured, eyes filling with tears. When had he last cried? ... _oh,_ when his mother died. 

"Good boy, Harry. Such a good boy. I love you, alright?" Norman took one final breath, and then he was gone.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title from: Wires by The Neighbourhood


End file.
